Once your signal was received,
Kakuzu immediately unleashed a triple-combo ninjutsu, firing a light cannon made from Wind, Fire, and Lightning Style deep into the misty forest where the Five-Tails, Kokuō, resided.
The sudden assault provoked a fierce counterattack. The Five-Tails responded with its colossal body and an enormous Boil Release, engaging in a head-on clash.
Kakuzu reinforced his body with Earth Style, and the battlefield exploded into chaos as powerful five-element ninjutsu clashed with the strength of a Tailed Beast.
Ninjutsu and taijutsu collided, wreaking havoc on the landscape and raining devastation across the battlefield…
But it was clear—Kakuzu alone couldn't defeat the Five-Tails!
Even though he could hold out for a time using compound ninjutsu and his powerful body enhanced by shinobi-style taijutsu, endurance was not a game he could win.
Even with chakra reserves five times that of a normal shinobi, Kakuzu was still human—not a chakra construct like a Tailed Beast.
Endurance battles and mutual bloodletting would eventually result in defeat.
Fortunately, capturing the Five-Tails wasn't his true mission.
His actual goal was to use the battle's fallout to clear out the underground White Zetsu en masse!
During the fight, Kakuzu subtly guided the Five-Tails' attacks to strike underground. He would also occasionally release Flame-Wind Chaos Waves to sweep the terrain. Whenever he had a free moment, he'd intentionally miss his attacks, launching chakra pulses straight into the earth.
...
You remained in stealth, infiltrating the ground beneath.
At first, you silently eliminated a few White Zetsu.
Then, a sudden idea struck—you fired a Magnetic Pulse Ray from your fingertips.
This technique was originally just a sensory-disrupting trick. But now, enhanced by your Ōtsutsuki body, it hit the White Zetsu like a paralyzing bolt. They collapsed like lumps of dead meat, unable to reform at all.
One by one, you began testing out your hypothetical ninjutsu on the underground White Zetsu. You moved at extreme speed, denying them any chance to relay information.
When it came time to use that mysterious power nested in your Sharingan to finish off the last White Zetsu—
You discovered something strange.
The White Zetsu didn't even seem aware it was dead.
It continued to move, then slowly dissolved into nothingness—without leaving behind a single trace of tissue…
Tss—
You sharply inhaled. This was no ordinary technique—this was an execution move on par with All-Killing Ash Bones.
It could erase its target without them even realizing it!
But the cost was tremendous.
Even with your Ōtsutsuki physique and massive chakra reserves, using this power drained half your chakra in an instant.
And this was just a White Zetsu.
To erase someone with a higher power level, the chakra consumption would grow exponentially!
Still, your exploration had paid off.
You'd confirmed that the mysterious force residing in your Sharingan once belonged to a being above the Six Paths level—one deeply linked to space and void…
The stronger you grew, the more you uncovered about this world.
So many things that had never existed in your past life began to surface. It was becoming clear—the world behind the Shinobi World ran far deeper than you'd ever imagined…
As you pondered, you finished clearing out the last of the White Zetsu.
Then you burst through the surface and landed a clean punch right to the Five-Tails' head. Even without going all out, the blow was strong enough to knock it unconscious instantly!
Then came the familiar and welcome process—chakra extraction and sealing.
You took one-third of the Five-Tails' chakra, while Kakuzu left with a scroll in hand, disappearing underground via Earth Style to report back to Nagato.
...
Just as you were about to activate Flying Thunder God and head to Nagato to claim your one-third share of the Four-Tails' chakra—
A low, eerie whisper suddenly drifted up from behind you, as if echoing out of the depths of hell:
"Young godling... you must have many questions swirling in your heart, don't you…"
You turned around.
Amid the lingering smoke of the battlefield, a silhouette had appeared—without a sound, completely undetected by your senses.
Startled by this person's ability to bypass your perception, you also got a good look at their face.
Clad in a red-and-black leather jacket, a blood-red crescent scythe slung across his shoulder, a silver triangular pendant hanging from his chest—his entire body was wrapped in shadow, save for his face, which was marked with stark white bone-like lines. A black mist flickered faintly behind him.
"...Hidan!"
This area near the Land of Hot Water was known to be Hidan's territory, so running into him here wasn't entirely unexpected.
But the presence inside him clearly wasn't Hidan!
"Who are you?"
Taking into account his strange words and the hidden cult in this region, you already had a rough guess in your heart.
"Yes, exactly as you're thinking."
"You can read my mind?!"
Hearing that, you took two steps back, your eyes activating Mangekyō Sharingan.
If this guy made even the slightest hostile move, you'd unleash your Complete Body Susanoo and obliterate him on the spot!
"Easy, easy. No need for violence. Let's talk this out."
The figure quickly raised his hands in a gesture of peace.
"I've waited a hundred years for a devoted lunatic like this one to show up. I'm counting on him to help me regain my strength—don't go ruining it now…"
Seeing that you were ready to attack, he quickly tried to calm the situation.
After a brief exchange, you finally learned the truth about the one before you:
—Jashin.
The very being worshipped by the cult active in the Land of Hot Water.
And Hidan was his most devoted believer.
As for how this Jashin could read your thoughts?
It was simply the most basic ability of a divine being—to read minds like flipping through the pages of a book.
Not just thoughts, but anything and everything—so long as one was willing to pay the price in time and energy.
That immediately brought to mind the mysterious power sealed in your Sharingan…
However, due to your Ōtsutsuki body, your thoughts were normally protected from such invasions.It was just that your emotional agitation earlier had caused your thoughts to spike in activity, practically writing your intentions across your face as far as a god was concerned.
As long as you stabilized your mind, you could shield your thoughts from him.
"A god? What kind of beings are you? And why do you call me a 'godling'?"
By this point, everything you thought you knew about the Naruto world had been completely upended.
Now that the wider truth was beginning to unfold, you couldn't ignore it. Curiosity and ambition both burned within you.
You decided to take this chance to get some answers from Jashin.
But he didn't respond directly.
Instead, he beckoned you to follow.
...
You trailed after Jashin—still possessing Hidan's body—into a dense forest.
Deeper inside, towering above the treetops, stood a majestic and ancient shrine.
Curious, you frowned. You'd been through this region years ago, when you first left Konoha—but you'd never seen any shrine here.
Walking ahead, Jashin simply chuckled and explained:
Such places can only be seen by those with divine lineage—either a godblooded being or one with a demigod's body.
Otherwise, only those who are recognized as true believers by Jashin can enter…
"So, what you're saying is… the Ōtsutsuki bloodline in my body—that's what you mean by divine bloodline?"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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